Beyond the nasty ads, there are key differences between Craig and Flanagan
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Watching the barrage of attack ads appearing on Minnesota TV screens, it's clear that U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have a lot of negative things to say about one another.
They and groups supporting their campaigns have fired back and forth on where campaign money is coming from, and blamed each other on issues including fraud and President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
But with about two weeks to go before the Aug. 11 primary election which will decide which DFL candidate is on the November ballot, the ads haven't said much about healthcare or other issues where the candidates differ.
Craig, who worked for years in the healthcare industry, supports a public option that would allow a government-run health insurance plan to compete with private insurance.
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"I'm for taking on the health insurance companies by finally passing a public option, a Medicare for all who want it,” Craig said earlier this summer. “Let's do everything in our power to take health insurance companies out of the way."
Flanagan wants to expand Medicare to cover everyone.
"We need to focus on health care and not health insurance, which is why I cannot wait to go to the United States Senate and join Bernie Sanders to pass Medicare for all,” Flanagan said during a recent event.
Flanagan believes it's an area that clearly needs a big overhaul.
“Some folks are like, ‘Oh, that’s too much. Is Medicare for all too radical?’” Flanagan said. “I'll tell you what is radical, is when people have to file for bankruptcy because their medical bills are too high.”
During a rally earlier this year, Craig was dismissive of rhetoric that “promises a revolution that will fix everything.”
“They might dismiss a law like capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month because we didn’t achieve their healthcare utopia,” she told supporters in Minneapolis. “But thanks to that bill, over 100,000 people right here in Minnesota no longer have to choose between their health and their groceries.”
Flanagan said those big swings are what's needed right now.
“Everywhere I go. They’re sick and tired of Democrats bending to Republicans fighting from a defensive crouch, nibbling around the edges, or governing by sternly-worded letter,” she said.
The two also disagree on Israel and Palestine, though it's an issue that comes with a lot of nuance.
In her career in Congress, Craig has taken money from the pro-Israeli political group AIPAC, though the group has not directly donated to her Senate campaign. She has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israeli relationship. She has called for a two-state solution, and has become increasingly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu. She's called for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Craig recently voted against an amendment that would cut off weapons sales to Israel, and talked to KSTP about it.
“That amendment actually would have stopped all funding to Palestinians in the region as well, and so it was a bad amendment,” she told KSTP’s Tom Hauser.
Flanagan has less of a record on the issue, but she has criticized Israel’s war in Gaza, at times calling it a genocide.
“I believe, of course, in a you know two-state solution,” Flanagan said. “I believe that what’s happened to the people of Gaza is horrific. That the people of Israel, the children of Israel, deserve to live in peace.”
On another issue, both are touting affordability, but have different ideas about how to get there.
Craig is pushing increasing the child care tax credit.
“I would double the child tax credit, that's how I would get after making sure that people could afford their child care,” Craig said.
Flanagan would like to provide people low-cost or free child care no matter their income.
“I am running for the United States Senate because I want people to be able to afford the lives they want to live,” Flanagan told a rally earlier this summer. “That’s why I support universal childcare.”
Paying for some of these changes is a place they both agree — repealing tax cuts for top income earners passed by the Republican-controlled Congress.
